Garnett's Legacy
There have been a bunch of great players who have never won an
N.B.A. title. That's a given. In recent memory, soon to be Hall of
Famers like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Reggie
Miller and Karl Malone have been the best examples of stars with
championship futility. Malone was so desperate to win a ring that
the country boy moved to Hollywood to fulfill his dream of winning a
title. Talk about a catfish outta water!

Kevin Garnett is now in his eleventh season with the N.B.A. In that
span, he has averaged 20 points, 11 rebounds and 4.5 assists per
game. He also happens to be an eight time All-Star, six time All
Defensive player and the 2003-2004 league M.V.P. Clearly, he's a
halfway decent player. But with each passing year, the question
begins to loom larger: Will K.G. ever win a title? Or better yet,
will K.G. become the greatest player to never make it to the N.B.A.
Finals?

The good news is, Garnett is 29 years old. He probably has five more
extremely productive years ahead of him. Bad news is, there just
doesn't seem to be enough firepower in the "mini-apple" to think the
Timberwolves are going to make a serious title run any time soon.
Especially when your sharing conference space with the San Antonio
Spurs.

Maybe Garnett should plan on leaving Minnesota before his time runs
out. It might not be a bad idea, but I have a sneaking suspicion
that the big guy is going to finish his career the way Karl Malone
should have- and that's with the same team he started out with.
Which leads me this question: Where are N.B.A. legends really made?
The marketing done by the league would indicate that they're made in
the playoffs. If that is true, then does that make Robert Horry and
Derek Fisher more "legendary" than Kevin Garnett?

The Timberwolves have never been very impressive in the playoffs.
More often than not, they get bounced in the first round. More often
the not, it ain't K.G.'s fault. Throughout his career, Garnett has
had to deal with tragedy (the loss of Malik Sealy), franchise
mistakes (the organization was fined 3.5 million bucks and lost five
first round draft picks after a fraudulant agreement was made with
Joe Smith), bad luck (on paper, trading Ray Allen for Stephon
Marbury seemed to make sense) and player malcontents (Latrell
Sprewell apparently found it hard to give it his all because he
had "mouths to feed").

Despite so many obstacles, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been
consistent playoffs participants and nearly every night, Garnett
could be counted on for a double-double. He's a draw on the road and
most importantly, for more than a decade, he has turned Minneapolis
into a basketball town. Who really thinks that basketball will
continue to thrive in the Twin Cities after K.G. is gone?

I hope the big guy gets a big shot at an N.B.A. title. If not, he
will go down as the greatest player to never make to the N.B.A.
Finals. But the intensity, hard work, loyalty and flat out skills
that he has brought to Minnesota is what will make this future Hall
of Famer, a legend.